Greek fires continue to devastate0:44

At least 74 people have been killed, 1000 homes have been destroyed and more than 150 victims are injured after two devastating fires ravaged holiday resorts in Greece.

July 24th 2018

7 months ago

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A woman stands among cars burnt following a wildfire at the village of Mati, near Athens. Picture: AFPSource:AFP

RESCUE crews are searching through charred homes and cars for those still missing after the deadliest wildfires to hit Greece in decades decimated coastal areas near Athens, killing at least 79 people and sending thousands fleeing.

There was no official indication as to how many people might be missing, and some took to social media and Greek television stations with appeals for information on their loved ones.

The charred remains of a house in Mati, east of Athens.Source:AP

The death toll was expected to increase as crews searched more of the areas affected by the fires.

More than 280 firefighters were still in the area to the northeast of Athens in the wider Rafina area, dousing the remaining flames to prevent flare-ups. A further 200 firefighters backed up by a water-dropping helicopter were tackling the second forest fire west of the capital, near Agioi Theodori, where local authorities pre-emptively evacuated three nearby communities overnight, according to the fire department.

Cars are strewn along the roadside in Mati east of Athens, near where rescue crews reported finding the bodies of more than 20 people huddled together near a beach. Picture: APSource:AP

Flags across Greece were flying at half-staff after the prime minister declared three days of national mourning for the victims.

The two fires on either side of the Greek capital started Monday within hours of each other, and were fanned by gale-force winds that hampered firefighting efforts.

The speed with which the fire northeast of Athens spread took many by surprise, and is believed to have contributed to the high death toll.

“We couldn’t see any fire. The fire came suddenly. There was so much wind, we didn’t realise how it happened,” said Anna Kiriazova, 56, who survived with her husband by shutting themselves in their house instead of trying to flee through the flames.

Damaged houses are seen behind the burned forest in Rafina, east of Athens.Source:AP

Kiriazova said they doused their house in the Mati area near Rafina with water from a garden hose, and credited the fact that their window frames were metal instead of wood for their home being spared.

“We shut ourselves in the house, we closed the shutters, we had towels over our faces,” she told The Associated Press. “The inferno lasted about an hour. I have no words to describe what we lived through.” Her 65-year-old husband, Theodoros Christopoulos, said the couple decided to take shelter in their home because the narrow roads outside were jammed with cars.

“There was a great panic because the whole street was blocked by cars,” Christopoulos said. “Shouting, hysteria, they could see the fire was coming with the wind. It already smelled a lot, the sky was black overhead and in no time at all the fire was here.” Hundreds of others abandoned cars and fled to nearby beaches, from where they were evacuated hours later by coast guard and private boats. Dozens swam out to sea despite rough weather to escape the intense heat and choking smoke blanketing the area.

RACE FOR SEA ENDED IN DEATH

Some 26 men, women and children made it almost as far at the gated staircase leading down to the Greek coastline and the safety of water. In the end, they simply couldn’t see it.

Greek authorities found a desperate huddle of bodies just a few steps away from the path to safety.

But the onrushing wall of smoke and flame at first blinded them, then choked them.

Their charred bodies, burnt-out cars, a few molten belongings — and the fire-blasted pine trees around them — are all that remains.

The charred bodies of the 26 people, including small children, were discovered at a villa at the seaside resort of Mati, 40 kilometres northeast of Athens, said rescuer Vassilis Andriopoulos.

They were huddled together in small groups, “perhaps families, friends or strangers, entwined in a last attempt to protect themselves as they tried to reach the sea”, he said.

Elsewhere, bodies were recovered from the sea, where victims had fled in vain to escape the flames and smoke. The intense wind had whipped fireballs into the sea itself.

Dozens of people were overtaken by the flames in their homes, on foot or in their cars. AFP photographers saw the burnt bodies of humans and dogs.

Out of a total 187 people hospitalised, 82 including almost a dozen children were still being treated, 10 of whom were in “serious condition”, the fire services said.

According to the mayor of Marathon, Ilias Psinakis, around 3000 homes have been destroyed by the blaze at the seaside resorts of Mati and Rafina. One of them was his own.

Residents react as they look at their burned house following a forest fire in Mati a northeast suburb of Athens, Greece. Picture: EPASource:AAP

A NATION IN SHOCK

Greece is in mourning with local mayor Rafinas-Pikermi telling media he expects the number of victims will ‘be three digits’.

We have been activated by @GSCP_GR to produce crisis maps for the Attika #wildfires in #Greece 🇬🇷 It is our 300th activation since April 2012So sad that it is on the occasion of such a tragedy VHR Imagery will be acquired tomorrow at 8:27 and 9:15 UTC (11:27 and 12:15 local) pic.twitter.com/Awc09bEqIW

“Today, Greece is in mourning,” said Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who cut short a visit to Bosnia and announced three days of national mourning.

Greek media described the disaster as a “national tragedy”.

The government has not yet said how many people were regarded as missing. But the death toll is likely to surpass that from the blazes which hit Greece’s southern island of Evia in 2007 in which 77 people perished.

Flames rise as a wildfire burns in the town of Rafina, near Athens. Picture: AFPSource:AFP

It’s believed no Australians have been hurt in the fires. A DFAT spokesman said the Australian Embassy in Athens had confirmed with local authorities no Australians have yet been reported injured or missing.

One Belgian was among the victims, said Belgium’s foreign minister Didier Reynders, while in Warsaw the government said a Polish mother and her son also died.

“I saw the flames outside the window of our hotel. I thought it would explode,” said Alina Marzin, a 20-year-old German tourist who had been staying at the Cape Verde hotel in Mati on Monday evening with her brother and their parents.

At least six people died trying to escape the flames into the sea. Some 715 people were evacuated by boats to Rafina, the government said.

“People are shocked, lost. Some of them have lost everything: children, parents, homes,” said Red Cross spokeswoman Georgia Trisbioti.

Interior Minister Panos Skourletis said the priority was to extinguish a fire still burning in Kineta, 50 kilometres from Athens.

Near the town of Marathon, residents fled to safety along the beach, while 600 children were evacuated from holiday camps.

Officials raised the possibility the blazes could have been started deliberately by criminals out to ransack abandoned homes.

“I am really concerned by the parallel outbreak of these fires,” Tsipras said as supreme court prosecutors announced they had opened an investigation into the causes of the fire.

Showers were set to see temperatures around Athens drop slightly after hitting 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).

An aerial view shows damage caused by a wildfire near the village of Mati, near Athens. Picture: AFPSource:AFP

INTERNATIONAL AID

The European Union activated its Civil Protection Mechanism after Greece sought help. Several countries said they were sending aircraft to help fight the flames.

European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker tweeted the EU “will spare no effort to help Greece and the Greek people”, while Pope Francis spoke of his “deep sadness,” sentiments echoed by EU and NATO leaders.

The #EU’s 🇪🇺 satellite mapping system @CopernicusEMS 🛰 is producing high quality maps upon the request of #Greece 🇬🇷 via #EUCivPro to assist in the efforts to combat the forest fires in Attica.

NATO head Jens Stoltenberg offered the alliance’s full solidarity with Greece, whose government earmarked financial aid for victims’ relatives. EU Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Christos Stylianides said the 28-member bloc will take steps to upgrade its response to natural disasters that have been exacerbated by climate change.

A tattered and charred Greek national flag hangs from a burnt-out house in Mati east of Athens. Picture: APSource:AP

Greece’s public order minister says Italy is dispatching two Canadair firefighting planes and Romania is sending a third aircraft to help combat the wildfires. Croatia has offered two more.

Minister Nikos Toskas said the aircraft are expected to arrive later today. Toskas said that if necessary, Greece would ask other European Union member states for additional help.

Toskas said never before have there been so many offers to assist firefighting efforts, lauding the solidarity other countries have shown.

He said climate change was responsible for the gale force winds that had fanned the flames, adding that Greece had never before experienced such strong winds.

Firefighters and volunteers try to extinguish flames during a wildfire at the village of Kineta, near Athens. AFPSource:AFP

FIRES ACROSS EUROPE

Wildfires have also caused widespread damage in northern Europe in recent days. Sweden, experiencing an unprecedented drought and the highest temperatures in a century, has counted more than 20 fires across the country.

Fires have also hit Finland’s northernmost Lapland province. Norway, which experienced its hottest May temperatures on record, has seen several small fires. One firefighter was killed on July 15 trying to contain a blaze.

Fires have raged for five days in Latvia, destroying more than 1000 hectares in the Baltic state.

A house is threatened by a huge blaze during a wildfire in Kineta, near Athens. Picture: AFP Photo / Valerie GacheSource:AFP